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An Oxford graduate who was a poster boy for the Metropolitan Police has quit the force weeks after being shot at, complaining that frontline officers are not being given enough support.

Rory Geoghegan, who spent three years working as a neighbourhood officer in south London, left the Met earlier this month following an incident in which a gunman opened fire on a routine patrol.

While he was unhurt, Mr Geoghegan said the lack of support he got from the organisation in the aftermath showed how frontline officers were being taken for granted.

He explained: “The organisation essentially said: 'see you for your next shift'. I went home unprepared and ill-equipped for the trauma that hit really hard in the following 24 hours.”

...Frontline officers - like many other public professionals - are taken for granted and judged by elites with little sympathy or understanding of the challenges and realities of policingRory Geoghegan

He went on: “These experiences do not fill you with confidence. There seems a double standard at play between the care that we are often quite rightly expected to provide when dealing with the public and what is provided to officers and staff when the going gets tough.”

The 32-year-old, who worked on criminal justice issues for the political think tank, The Policy Exchange, before joining the Met, said he had already made his mind up to leave the force even before the shooting incident took place, because he felt too little was being done to support hard working officers.

Explaining his decision to leave the job he loved, Mr Geoghegan said: “I still think it is the best job in the world but good officers need more support from the service and from wider society, and I want to help make the case to achieve this.”

Rory Geoghegan has described neighbourhood policing as the best job in the world

After graduating with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Trinity College, Oxford, Mr Geoghegan began his working life as strategy consultant with the firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

But an interest in the criminal justice system led him to sign up as a Special Constable and after two years he joined the Met full-time as part of its graduate recruitment scheme.

During his time with the force he wrote a popular blog called On The Beat, and had been earmarked by Scotland Yard’s top brass as a high flier of the future.

But he said after three years on the force he became disillusioned and has now decided to use his experiences to try and influence criminal justice policy from the outside.

I still think it is the best job in the world but good officers need more support from the service and from wider society, and I want to help make the case to achieve thisRory Geoghegan

He told the Telegraph: “Good police officers care hugely about each other and the public they serve. They go the extra mile, they carry risk the public don't even know exists.

“Unfortunately my experience has also taught me that the institutions in and around policing at times forget that it's good hard-working police officers that do the job.”

He said he and his colleagues had become increasingly frustrated at the amount of time they were spending dealing with lengthy complaint procedures.

And he warned that the level of scrutiny officers were now under meant some were becoming risk averse because they were afraid of even making honest mistakes.

The warm support from my residents over the last 3 years has meant far more than they can know. See you on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/IIiNWYeFzY

Mr Geoghegan said: “Good police officers face the prospect and reality of physical assault - but they also face real danger in the form of unimaginable and unforgiving levels of scrutiny, all set within cultures and institutions that have developed a risk aversion and timidity that often leave the officer carrying the can on their own.

“Even where officers hold their hands up to an honest mistake, some are still being served for gross misconduct, are under investigation for months if not years - and for little, if any, public good.

“Such cases are hugely corrosive to their morale, the morale of their colleagues and ultimately the service delivered to the public.”

He explained: “I'm not calling for less accountability - I understand the need for it. The problem is that it has become the tail that wags the dog - while actually serving neither the interests of the public or the police. There is a lot that can and should change.”

Mr Geoghegan said the problems went wider than just the Met and similar issues were being seen across the public sector.

He said: “The balance has gone too far in one direction and frontline officers - like many other public professionals - are taken for granted and judged by elites with little sympathy or understanding of the challenges and realities of policing.

“While it pained me to say farewell to the best job in the world, making a real difference and serving the public, I'm not giving up on policing - quite the opposite - I'm looking forward to helping fight for it.

“I would like to see someone start making the case for policing - at the positive impact we can and should have. It's also important for the good in policing to be recognised and promoted - not taken for granted. It's time we focussed on people and the reality, rather than process.”

Mr Geoghegan has applied to become a special constable again and is setting up a non-profit organisation to support frontline professionals and promote better policing and public safety.